A black college lacrosse player in Maryland was caught spray painting the N word and swastikas along with threats that targeted several black students, including himself, The Daily Mail reported.
A black college lacrosse player has been arrested in connection with two incidents of racist graffiti found in a dorm on the Goucher College campus in Maryland.
Fynn Ajani Arthur, a 21-year-old from Brunswick, Maine, was charged with two counts of malicious destruction of property on Thursday night in Baltimore County.
His arrest came after graffiti aimed at black and Latino students was found on the second floor of a campus dorm, one floor above where similar graffiti had been found on November 14, Goucher College administrators said in a statement.
Both incidents that shook the Towson campus involved backward swastikas and targeted specific individuals, according to the statement.
Thursday’s graffiti depicted swastikas, the letters ‘KKK’ and appeared to include the last names of four black students, including Arthur. The previous graffiti reportedly said all ‘n*****s’ on campus would be killed.
Arthur was released his own recognizance after a bail review hearing on Friday, according to jail records.
He has been banned from campus pending a student conduct review.
Goucher Public Safety officials worked with Baltimore County Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Baltimore Field Office to investigate both of graffiti incidents.
They determined that Arthur was responsible for the messages based on evidence found Thursday, police say.
Goucher vice president and dean Bryan Coker condemned the racist incidents during a Friday press conference, according to the Baltimore Sun.
‘These acts of hate have consumed our community and we feel strongly that the suspect should be prosecuted with the strongest charges, which reflect the seriousness of these crimes,’ Coker said.
He criticized Baltimore County police for not charging Arthur with a hate crime, though in Maryland the specific charge of ‘hate crime’ does not exist, Officer Jennifer Peach, a department spokeswoman, said.
Instead, any evidence that a crime was motivated by bias is directed to the state’s attorney’s office for consideration during prosecution.
Sentencing for crimes that were motivated by bias carry harsher penalties.
‘It’s become like common jargon to call it a hate crime,’ Peach said. ‘There’s no such law that says hate crime. It has to do with sentencing if hate is the motive.’
Officials said the college has reached out to the individuals targeted in the graffiti to offer support, yet many minority students have expressed ongoing concerns despite...
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